Reference: High Court of Admiralty HCA32/1342Location: Public Record Office

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With particular thanks to Wayne Drusch who supplied much of the data on the vessels career.

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This page, and those linked to it, follows the Prize case of the American privateer Prince of Neufchatel.

The documents produced in the case were typical of the period, illustrating the variety of information these cases can contain.

The principal source for information are the answers given to the Standing Interrogatories: a standard set of questions put to members of the captured crew, to determine a vessel's identity What ultimately became of the vessel is, as yet, unclear. However she was offered to the Navy who, though impressed by her sailing qualities, declined the offer. That she was sold can be seen from the Prize accounts and probably re-registered as a British vessel.

The following details are taken from the registry certificate which is now lodged amongst the Prize papers cited above. The Prince of Neufchatel, a brig, had been built in 1813. Her dimensions were ;

The Prince of Neufchatel had a successful commercial career which including fighting several notable actions before being captured by the frigate HMS.Leander on 28th December 1814. The events surrounding her capture were recorded in the Captain's Log.The documents found aboard the privateer were the standard ship's papers for this type of vessel consisting of;

The number of crew a Letter of marque carried was of considerable importance to the captor, the larger the captured crew the greater the reward. This was because of the bounty known as Head Money which was payable both to the crews of naval vessels as well as privateers.